In his latest Federal Election Commission filing, Lance reported raising $103,100 in the three months ended June 30. Stender's report was not immediately available, but her campaign said it had raised $500,000 in the three-month period.

With 16 weeks to go before the November election, Stender's campaign said it has $1.2 million on hand while Lance's reported a balance of $80,800.

Since they began their campaigns for the U.S. House seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Mike Ferguson, Lance has received $385,000 in donations to Stender's $1.54 million. Lance also has loaned $100,000 to his own campaign.

Lance's fight for the GOP nomination in the sprawling district, which includes parts of Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Middlesex counties, cost him more than $400,000, according to the latest FEC report, and left him with more than $90,000 in debts.

The national Democratic Party, which was of little help to Stender two years ago, is expected to jump in this time. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has nearly $34 million allocated for television advertising in races around the country, is targeting $1.8 million to Stender's race, according to a party source who was not authorized to release the information and asked not to be identified.